T-slot Cleaner for Mini-mill

prusaprinters

<p>This T-slot cleaner was made for my Little Machine Shop Model 3900 HiTorque Mini-mill (see photos), but will probably work with many other small mills as well (see the photos for a drawing showing the dimensions (in inches and mm) of the T-slots on my mill.</p> <p>The cleaner is made in two parts - the "blade" and the handle, with the idea that when the blade wears out it can be easily replaced without having to reprint the entire tool. The cost of each blade is only a few pennies, so I included gcode to print three of them so spares would be readily available.</p> <p>The blade part screws into the handle. Note that the threads on the blade have a flat side - this is intentional to enable the blade to be printed without a brim or supports (and still leaves plenty of thread to hold securely).</p> <p>Prior to this tool I simply used a shop vac and chip brush to clear the T-slots, but that only got about 90% of the swarf cleaned out. The first time I used this tool I was immediately struck by how good a job it did of cleaning out chips and grime from cutting lubricants.</p> <p>The OnShape 3D CAD file this are here :</p> <p><a href="https://cad.onshape.com/documents/799bca10a2328cb7f81ff348/w/5a4ba35508a5b0e094771cef/e/1ec9578949c406245237fbc7">https://cad.onshape.com/documents/799bca10a2328cb7f81ff348/w/5a4ba35508a5b0e094771cef/e/1ec9578949c406245237fbc7</a></p> <h3>Print instructions</h3><p>Print in PLA using the 3mf files provided; otherwise :</p> <p>Blade :</p> <ul> <li>perimeters = 7</li> <li>15% rectilinear infill</li> <li>no supports or brim required</li> </ul> <p>As noted previously, gcode is provided to print three blades at one time in order to have spares on hand (or just print one if you prefer).</p> <p>Handle :</p> <ul> <li>Print thread-end down with a brim (see photos)</li> <li>perimeters = 3</li> <li>10% rectilinear infill</li> </ul> <p>To assemble the tool simply thread the blade into the handle.</p>